Feed for fountain pens



July 31, 1945. D. JUELSS 2,380,763

FEED FOR FOUNTAIN PENS Filed Oct. 14, 1944 INVENTO R Ddu/o fie/r! ATTORNEY-5 seat of the feed;

Patented July- 31, 1945 uulrso" STATES PATENT --Ol"FICE 2mm: I... 1.2. $32212... m...

can lead Pencil Company,

notation of NewYork Application October 14, 1., Serial No. 558,873 I (Cl. 120-50) This invention relates to fountain pens and particularly'to an improved feed device which is designed to avoid the diiilculty arising from excessive flow of ink through the feed. I

Fountain pens comprise anink reservoiror barrel, a pen nib and a feed adapted to permit the regulatedilowofinktothenibwhen thepen isinuse. Acapisprovidedtocoverthepennib when it is not in use. Withthe common types of feed, such pens have a tendency to flood because of variations of temperature, pressure or other causu. The excessive flow of ink often re-,

sults in the formation of drops of ink at the end of the nib, or it may overflow into the cap when the latter is in place. Such flooding is a frequent source of annoyance to pen users. An attempt has been made heretofore to avoid this difllculty byproviding grooves in the surface of the feed facing the nib and adjacent the feed groove through which the ink flows from the receiver. Such grooves are intended to catch and hold any surplus ink which may be delivered through the feed groove. This expedient, while helpful, is not entirely satisfactory and does not adequately solve the problem of flooding.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved feed for fountain pens which .will successfully retain excess ink, and thus avoid the difliculty mentioned.

Afurther obiect of the invention is the provision of a feed which will absorb excess ink flow and deliver such excess to the pen nib when the p n is in use.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as it isbetterunderstood by reference to the following specification and theaca r n drawin in which Fig. 1 isa view in perspective of the feed with the nib assembled therewith.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the upper side or nib Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the feed; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the under side of the eed;

Fi 5isasectiononthelineIIofFlg. 2;

" .oisasectiononthellneHofFig. 2; and Fig. 7 is a section on the line 1-1 of Fig. 4.

Referringto the drawing. the feed I is assem- N. 1.,aeorinvention, which relates particularly to improvementsinthe feed.

The feed I may be made of any suitable material, as for example hard rubber, though preferably it is molded from a suitable plastic mate rial of which numerous types are available. By molding, the feed may be produced at a relatively low cost, since the cost of milling or otherwise cutting the feed to the required form is avoided.

The feed I is generally cylindrical in form,

having a tapered forward end I which is adapted to support the slltted point of the nib I. Theother end of the feed is adapted to closely lit the opening in the barrel (not shown). The feed is provided with a recess I forming a seat for the nb I, the recess being equal in depth to the thickness of the nib so that it completes the circular cross-section of the feed when the latter is inserted in the barrel opening to aflord a tight fit and to prevent leakage. c

' The end of the feed I is chamfered at I to facilitate entrance of the ink into grooves iI which extend nearly to the opposite end of the feed but stop short of the end. The grooves II merge into a common groove II which together with them permits the flow of ink to the nib I when the pen is in use.

On the upper or nib seat face of the feed I a plurality of grooves II are formed circumferentially. The grooves [I do not merge with the feed groove Ii but are, capable of picking up surplus ink which may overflow from the. feed groove ll beneath the under surface of the pen nib. Such grooves have been utilized heretofore infountainpenfeeds.

The under side of the feed is provided with a end which allows ink to flow to the nib I when the pen is in use. The groove ll merges into a plurality of forwardly-converging, chevron grooves II on the under side of the feed I which in turn merge respectively into the grooves I! on the upper side of the feed. Any surplus ink overflowing into the grooves it passes into the chevron grooves II which. being of a substantially capillary dimension, will hold the ink and prevent it bled with the nib I in the manner indicated in Fig. 1, for the purpose of supplying ink from the reservoir (not shown) to the pen nib when the pen is in use. Such an assembly is common in fountain pens and forms-no part of the present from dropping from the nib when the pen is in writing position or otherwise overflowing into the esp when the latter is in use. The surplus ink collects also in the longitudinal groove if. when the pen is in writing position and in use, such surplus ink will pass through the groove If to the nib and will thus be utilized. If, on the other hand, the pen is not used for a considerable period, the surplus ink will tend to evaporate,

direction of ink tends to he pulled upward by capillary action position. The longiailords means for causing the surplus ink to flow directly to the pen nib. Thus in normal operation any flooding of through the feed channe ii will resultmerely in filling the grooves i3 and I4, those grooves will be held until it is drawn off and used in the-writing operation.

Various changes may he made in the details of form and construction 'of the feed without departing from the invention or sacrificing the advantages thereof.

I claim:

1. In a feed for fountain pens comprising a body of substantially cylindrical form at one end and semi-cylindrical at the other, tapering at the latter end. and having a feed groove extending along the upper face. the improvement the under side and lateral grooves the longitudinal groove therefrom'toward the cylindrical end and comnunicat ng therewith. tain surplus ink flowing through the feed groove.

of forwardly-convergin gro ves and the ink in adapted to receive and N- connecting withthe longitudinal groove in the under face. 4. A feed for fountain pens having a feed groove extending longitudinally thereof along its upper face and a groove extending longitudinally thereof along its under face substantially to'the forward end thereof, said feed also having a series I groov at each side of in its wper face extendto the respective sides of the feed, said feed further having a series of forwardly-converging grooves connecting with the longitudinal groove in the under face.

5. A feed for fountain pens having a feed groove extending longitudinally thereof along its upper face and a groove extending longitudinally thereofalong its under face to the forward end thereof. said feed also having a series of transversely extending grooves at each side of the longitudinal groove in its upper face extending from points adjacent said longitudinal groove to the respective sides of the feed. .said transversely being. normal to the longituthe upper face of the feed. said feed further having a series of forwardly-convergins grooves connecting at their forward ends, with'the longitudinal groove in the upper face and. at their rear ends, with said transversely extending grooves.

DAVID JUILSB underfaoe substantially tothe saidfeedalsohavingaseries 

